The central objective of this research program is to improve our understanding of the neural mechanisms that initiate and control simple motor acts. The program consists of six projects designed to explore sensorimotor mechanisms in different mammalian systems. The sensorimotor functions to be studied range in complexity from the feedbach regulation of contraction in functionally isolated muscles to the stimulus discrimination and masticatory coordination involved in the control of the ingestion and rejection of food. Our approaches to these problesm will be multidisciplinary, specifically involving intra- and extracellular microelectrode recording, electromyography, contemporary neuroanatomical tracing, behavioral control and evaluation, mechanical analysis, signal analysis, computer technology and control theory. We intend to explore sensorimotor function at three different levels of analysis: at the level of cellular mechanisms and wiring diagrams, at the level of organizational block diagrams interconnecting neural networks and at the level of sensorimotor performance including its utility to the animal. The results of these different projects taken as a whole should suggest general neural mechanisms for sensorimotor integration as well as specializations that serve specific adaptive functions. The breadth of conceptual approach and technology that will be brought to bear on sensorimotor problems is much greater than any of us could accomplish individually, which we believe strongly justifies the joining of this group of projects into a single research program.